Achieving Digital Equity in New York An Outline For Collaborative Change June 2021 Lauren Moore Assistant Commissioner for Libraries and State Librarian Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3 Background: Understanding Digital Inequity in NYS ............................................... 4 Disparities Around Income and Race .......................................................................... 5 Digital Equity in Schools........................................................................................ 6 Government Efforts to Address Digital Inequity .................................................... 6 Outline for Collaborative Change ............................................................................. 8 State- level Prioritization of Digital Inclusion ......................................................... 9 Thriving Digital Equity Ecosystems Across the Entire State ........................ 11 A Shift from Digital Equity to Digital Justice ................................... 12 Appendices ............................................................................................................ 15 Appendix A: NYSED Digital Equity Summits Summary of Expert Panelist and Summit Participant Discussions ...................................................................................... 15 Appendix B: New York’s Digital Divide: Examining adoption of internet and computers for the state and its library districts .................................................. 34 Appendix C: NYSED Reports on Results of the Digital Equity Survey ........... 48 Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted A third Summit will be convened on June inequities in the access and use of 15, 2021 to look specifically at digital information and communication equity issues in an education setting. technologies. These disparities impact individuals within a broad range of areas The summits comprised presentations by including education, workforce national experts followed by breakout development, and healthcare. discussions. Participants took part in facilitated small group discussions, sharing In 2021, the New York State Education their ideas, expertise, and experiences. Department and the Board of Regents From these discussions, the Department convened two Digital Equity Summits to compiled the information shared, using an establish a shared understanding of digital equity lens for analysis to highlight existing inequity and create a joint vision toward and emerging solutions that can serve as achieving digital equity in New York State. exemplars for digital equity work and The summits brought together education, identify opportunities for system and policy government, community, and business change. partners to recommend both short-term and long-term next steps at all levels— Appendix A: New York State Department of federal, state, local, and organizational. Education Digital Equity Summits: Summary of Expert Panelist and Summit Participant Discussions Understanding Digital Inequity in New York 1 DISPARITIES AROUND INCOME AND RACE 2 DIGITAL EQUITY AND SCHOOLS 3 GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO ADDRESS DIGITAL INEQUITY 1. Disparities Around Income and Race State level data through the American Community Survey (ACS) provide additional context to inform our understanding of existence and persistence of a digital divide in New York. In a data study commissioned by the State Education Department, Dr. John B. Horrigan found that digital access varies greatly across geography and socio-economic groups. The data show that rates of low adoption exist in urban and rural counties and seem to result more from affordability than the availability of service. Although internet access remains a challenge in parts of the state, affordability serves as the most significant barrier to internet adoption. The major data points to understanding digital inequity in New York include: • Nearly 27% of New York households do not subscribe to wireline broadband service at home. • Some 22% of New York households do not have a desktop or laptop computer at home. • Poor New Yorkers, older adults, and communities of color have low adoption rates of digital tools. o Half of New York’s lowest income residents (those whose annual incomes are $25,000 or less) do not have a wireline broadband subscription and half lack a computer. o 40% of older (age 65 and above) New Yorkers do not have wireline subscriptions for internet service and about one-third do not have a computer. o One-third of African American and Latino households do not have wireline broadband at home and similar numbers do not have a desktop or laptop computer. • Rural New York households are less likely than metropolitan dwellers to have wireline service, but low-income rural New Yorkers struggle affording service in the same way as their counterparts in metropolitan areas. o Lower-income rural areas (e.g., in the western part of the state), as well as some urban library locations (e.g., the Bronx), have home wireline adoption rates that are 20 percentage points lower than wealthier counterparts. o Some library system regions with low population density and (on average) healthy household incomes have broadband adoption rates above the state average. Appendix B: New York’s Digital Divide: Examining adoption of internet and computers for the state and its library districts 2. Digital Equity and Schools In the spring of 2020, when schools closed due to COVID-19, the New York State Education Department conducted a survey to measure students’ access to adequate internet and devices. To gain a more complete picture of the status of digital equity for New York State students and teachers, the survey was re-released in fall of 2020. NYSED received responses from 99% of public schools, charter schools, BOCES, and approved private, state- operated, and state-supported schools that serve school-age students with disabilities. Though the spring 2020 survey results were incomplete, a comparison with the fall 2020 data did show decreases in the number of students without access to a computing device and/or sufficient internet. NYS schools, districts, and BOCES have provided hundreds of thousands of devices to our New York State students over the past year for use in their places of residence. As of January 2021, schools reported approximately 93% of students in New York have internet access and approximately 91% have devices to support their virtual learning. Evident in the survey findings was the ability of our state’s school districts and their partners to address this massive problem so quickly, which illustrates the value in prioritizing digital equity. The survey findings also suggest that when digital equity is a uniform priority, resources can effectively address the problem. Lastly, the survey results seem to indicate that the most effective digital equity work can happen at the local level, through partnerships and collaboration. Appendix C: NYSED Report on Fall 2020 Digital Equity Survey 3. Government Efforts to Address Digital Inequity This is a moment with tremendous opportunity, with significant investments and policies being implemented at the federal, state, and local levels to increase the availability and affordability of internet. At the time of writing, the Federal government has just launched major investments in broadband infrastructure, including the Emergency Connectivity Fund, an E-rate Program to allow emergency connectivity through schools and libraries, and the Emergency Broadband Program, a federal subsidy to temporarily reduce the cost of household internet subscriptions for low-income households. Additionally, $350 billion is allocated in the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (ARPA) to state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments for the purpose of “laying the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery,” which can fund capital investments in internet infrastructure. New York State’s 20/21 Budget includes the requirement that internet service providers offer $15 or less monthly cost for low-income consumer access to broadband service to increase digital equity. The Budget also requires the Public Service Commission to study and map out availability, reliability, and cost of high-speed internet and broadband services in New York State. In addition, the Budget sets aside $15 million in federal funding to allow the State Education Department to implement a program to provide resources and technical support for individuals and households who are economically disadvantaged and to further assist in bridging the state’s digital divide. Outline for Collaborative Change The Board of Regents and New York State The following recommendations are a Education Department have a vision of blueprint for change to help guide the work ubiquitous internet access, device of organizations and decision-makers at all ownership, technical support, and digital levels to put the systems and structures in fluency skills for all New Yorkers. place that will ensure these valuable federal and state initiatives benefit New Yorkers.In By working together across levels of this document, specific responsibility is not government, across sectors, and across assigned; partners in this effort are asked disciplines, New York can achieve this to identify the places where they may aid in vision. Based on conversations with progress. The State Education Department stakeholders and experts at our Digital intends to lead